"Direct autumn release is a reintroduction technique that is in addition to the primary technique using ultralight aircraft. The direct autumn release technique that will be used in the eastern migratory whooping crane reintroduction will consist of rearing whooping crane chicks according to a strict costume/isolation-rearing protocol and then releasing them with older whooping cranes that have successfully migrated in the past or into wild sandhill flocks with which these older whooping cranes are likely to associate. Chicks for direct autumn release will be reared from an early age in the field and then released after fledging. These released juveniles will then learn a fall migration route from the older, wild birds. This method of reintroduction has been extensively tested and proven previously successful with sandhill cranes."
Link: Full Article from BringBacktheCranes.org
Whooping Crane image © 2006 Mike McDowell